One of the pioneers of electronic music and co-composer of the first all electronic film score, Bebe Barron, died this past April 20th of natural cases at the age of 82. She along with her husband, Louis Barron, who passed away in 1989, composed the sound effects / soundtrack to the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet.

Charlotte May Wind (her husband nicknamed her Bebe) was born in Minneapolis in 1925. She earned a degree in music at the University of Minnesota then moved to New York, where she worked as a researcher for Time-Life. Soon after, she met and married Louis Barron in 1947. As a wedding gift the Barrons received a tape recorder and began delving into the world of musique concrete (music created by sounds other than musical instruments, often referred to as “real world” sounds). In 1948 Louis Barron was inspired by the book Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine, by MIT mathematician Norbert Wiener. After studying Wiener’s equations, Louis began building electronic circuits to generate sounds. That combined with recorded tape, created a unique and otherworldly aural experience. After moving to Greenwich Village, the Barrons built a recording studio and became entrenched in New York’s burgeoning avant-garde scene. In their studio they recorded the likes of Aldous Huxley, Anais Nin, Henry Miller and Tennessee Williams reading their work; they also recorded and worked with many like-thinking composers such as John Cage, Morton Feldman, Earle Brown, and David Tudor. In addition, the Barrons scored their first soundtracks to several experimental short films by Ian Hugo, husband of Anais Nin.

Directions:Imagine Mr. Brother living another day, as always, with music playing. Whether it’s one of his trusty iPods, or his home stereo, or working the soundtracks section of Amoeba Music Hollywood, Mr. Brother is eating, sonically, with the mouths of his ears.

To simulate this experience, as you read the below story of a day lived, you will be given certain music clips to play. These are inserted to provide you with the same tunes Job was hearing as he was doing what you’ll be reading.

For example, while he was writing the above directions, he was listening to this:

So, I was at Target the other day, looking to see if Method had launched any new cleaning products (which they had – a new toilet bowl cleanser, so I was happy), when I found myself looking at the pet toy section with fresh interest.

I decided to purchase a cat laser. That is, a little plastic mouse which shoots a red laser point; the idea being that the cat will think the red spot is some kind of living, flying, glowing thing and chase it around. Not every cat registers the laser, however, so spending the four dollars was a real risk on my part. You know me, though – I live on the edge. Cat laser? Purchased!

Before I left Target, I put my courage to the sticking place and ventured into the men’s restroom. The men’s restroom at the West Hollywood Target reminds me of jail, somehow. And yes, I’ve been to jail, thank you for asking.

Everything was going well – if not for my olfactory sense. I was washing my paws. A few sinks over from me was an old man in a porkpie hat. I watched, transfixed, as he removed both his upper and lower teeth and set them on the very public, men’s restroom sink.

I quickly left. I didn’t want the janitor to have to clean up any regurgitated Vitamin Water on my account.

You gotta love Boris. They’re one of those bands who are so consistently good at what they do that a sizable bulk of their fans will forever find themselves buying anything and everything they can get their hands on. Because of their penchant for limited releases and gorgeous packaging, plus the usual import price tag -- ouch, Boris collectors have it pretty rough no matter how you slice it.

While we cannot blame Boris for wanting to deliver the very best of their artistic capabilities in the most aesthetically pleasing manner possible, it seems a shame that they seem to sacrifice the availability of their talents to the full scope of their fan-base. That being the case, I have to say, and please excuse the inherent perversity of the statement, God bless Southern Lord for bringing Boris accessibly and affordably to the states.

The band’s latest release, entitled Smile, is nothing short of what any Boris fan would expect from the genius rock-smiths the trio have proven themselves to be. For familiarized ears it is, neatly put, every Boris album you’ve ever heard divided by your four favorite Boris songs, figuring in new collaborations with Ghost’s Michio Kurihara and Stephen O’Malley of sunn0))). Sound redundant? Don’t be silly: Boris knows no redundancy when it comes to rocking your face off, nor any limits, for that matter.

It begins as a slow, menacing rumble, suggesting the gathering of thunder-clouds clamoring to assault your naked ears, but what follows is a rather straight cover of PYG’s "Flower Sun Rain," except that it sounds something like a watercolor interpretation of the song; it’s as if PYG’s original, decidedly heavy folk-rock song is a solid ink splotch which Boris deliberately drenches. The song bleeds its sound slowly, heart-wrenchingly, toward the alarmingly sudden gleeful sound of a little girl laughing and -- BOOM! -- just like that, we’re reminded that Boris began as a punk band. The “danger zone” triptych of "BUZZ-IN," "Laser Beam," and "Statement" seem to jive sonically with the fighter jet depicted in the cover art; the three songs writhe frantically and unpredictably as the players shred through one frenzy to the next, dredging up comparisons from G.B.H. to Venom with some ol’ fashioned, heavy “hair” metal thrown in for dirty-good measure. Here's the video for "Statement":

Among the piles of everyday hits and misses I plow through upstairs in the vinyl vault, there's always plenty of curios. I've put aside a handful of UK releases that caught my eye recently and decided to check out the stories behind the labels, here's a bit of briefing...

77 Records was started by Doug Dobell who ran Dobell's Jazz Record Shop in London. He specialized in rare Trad Jazz and Blues recordings. As far as I could tell, York Records was a short lived Decca subsidiary, with heavy Yorkshire connections, it seems that it might have been run by a "Yorkshire TV" shoppe. Automatic Record Co. was a Warner subsidiary started by Nick Mobbs that had a few Modern Rock releases in the early 80's...

VJM specialized in 78 and unreleased rarity comps from Blues & Trad Jazz artists, I believe the organization is still around today. Topic started off as a vinyl label releasing Folk titles and still releases UK folk music on CD.